iHome Audio iH858 bike-mounted iPod dock

Sure, you might have the soundtrack of a bustling city or the quiet calm of the countryside to provide background music for your biking trips, but every once in awhile you're bound to want to seriously shred to Ride the Lightning. Well, the cats over at iHome Audio have got you covered with the iH85B, a totally tubular accessory that lets you cram your iPod inside and bump some jams while you push pedals. Basically, you mount the dock onto your bike frame like you would a water bottle -- except this water bottle blasts multiple dBs of "Fade to Black" and totally takes it back to the 80s ghetto blaster style. The iH85B also has an RF remote, so you can control your iPod and keep your eyes up top, and the whole thing is water and impact resistant -- although, if you're running into stuff on your bike, you've probably got better things to worry about than your iPod.

[Cpt.Scarecrow @ Jun 28th 2007 5:17AM]

It's nice that it's impact resistant, but as many of my water bottles have fallen of while riding my bike I don't think putting electronics there is a good idea...
Besides, what's wrong with having earplugs in your ear? Why do you have to annoy all other traffickers with your music.
Imagine the fun when waiting at the traffic lights with more people with there music blasting from their bikes next to you...

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 6:49AM]

"What's wrong with having earplugs in your ear?"

I'm not sure, but it probably has something to do with being incredibly dangerous riding a bicycle with no safety protection minus a helmet (if you're smart enough to wear one) on the road and not being able to hear the vehicles and environment around you. Some things were meant to be enjoyed sans music - cycling is one of them.

[Cpt.Scarecrow @ Jun 28th 2007 7:25AM]

I always ride my bicycle while listening to my mp3 player. Just turn the volume down so you can till hear the traffic and don't use those earplugs that cancel out environmental noise and there is nothing unsafe about it. I pretty much hear everything around me, while I also hear the music (in the background).

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 8:27AM]

Well, your life, not mine - do what you please.

[Dave @ Sep 11th 2007 10:45PM]

As soon as you make it illegal for deaf people to ride bicycles I'll give credence to you argument that listening to music while riding is going to get me killed. Very few, if any, dead cyclists were killed because they were listening to tunes. They were killed because either they, or the driver did something stupid. And music most likely had nothing to do with it.

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 5:29AM]

Yet another device that comes with a free public flogging. Seriously, all these personal noise-cloud generators have already created a culture of incredible public rudeness. It needs to stop.

[Teddles @ Jun 28th 2007 6:29AM]

I have a terrible problem with my bottle falling out as well, thusly none of my bikes have bottle mounts anymore. Brilliantly novel idea, bad concept.

I agree with Bad Beaver about the noise violation these things pose, people who wander around with phones out and tunes on need a slap, especially the ones with bad taste in music.

But as for the earplugs thing, I cant hear traffic with mine in and its not recommended at all :p

[atnov @ Jun 28th 2007 9:42AM]

"I have a terrible problem with my bottle falling out as well, thusly none of my bikes have bottle mounts anymore."

The article says you mount the thing on your frame, LIKE a water bottle mount, not IN the water bottle mount. If you mount something to the frame it usually stays there.

Also, I think this product is meant more for road cyclists/commuters/casual riders, rather than mtn bikers.

[Cpt.Scarecrow @ Jun 28th 2007 10:32AM]

@atnov:
Click the read link and look at the pictures, it is placed in a water bottle mount, it isn't mounted on the frame.
(Which to me would suck even more. I wouldn't let such a relatively expensive electronics device on my bike all the time, wherever I go and stall my bike.)

[Wesley Atkins @ Jun 28th 2007 7:08AM]

What an excellent addition this is. I live in the country and now the summer is here I will be biking the beautiful countryside with this cool invention to support my new Apple Ipod Red - http://www.reviewbooth.com/2007/06/28/apple-ipod-red/

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 7:28AM]

Tom, wearing a helmet on a bike (regular biking) does not always qualify as "smart", depending upon whom you ask. The ones that benefit the most from helmets are the ones producing and selling them. You are much better off paying full attention to what you and others are doing (-> NO PHONES IN TRAFFIC) than paying for a helmet.

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 8:46AM]

Screwy comment system - I replied to your comment, but it showed up in a new thread.

[Greg @ Jun 28th 2007 9:25AM]

A helmet saved my dad's life last summer, jackass.

[Jason @ Jun 28th 2007 9:29AM]

Are you out of your freaking mind.... Wear a helmet, it will save your life. Trust me on this, I have split 2 helmets right down the center, and smashed the top of a third (most recent accident while mtn biking). Yes, I ride hard and fast, and accidents are inherant in mountain biking, especially during races when you may tend to be a little less cautious while trying to pass other riders.

And as for those who benefit, almost all helmet manufacturers offer a significant (up to 50%) discount on new helmets when you send the old broken one back with a description of your accident.

They weigh almost nothing, do not interfere with head movement, and again, will save you life when your head goes through that front windshield of the car that just hit you. Just as with motorcycles, there are 2 types of riders, those that will fall, and those that have fallen, no if's and's or but's

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 9:31AM]

No need to get unfriendly, kid. Just read up.

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 9:46AM]

Jason, it is sad to see that your injuries have impaired your ability to extract information from written text. *rolleyes* Racing is not regular biking. Also, when you are hit hard enough to go through a windshield, you have other problems. So to finish this, you eagerly helmeted folks wish to go to, say, Wikipedia, and read up on facts, for example:

"a typical helmet will absorb the energy of a fall from a stationary or slow-moving bicycle, an impact speed of around 12mph. It will only reduce the energy of a 30 mph impact to 27.5 mph, and even this will be compromised if the helmet fails. This energy calculation is based on the standards, which take no account of the weight of the rider's body."

or

"Helmets are most effective in straight line, or linear, blows to the head at moderate speed. Helmets are not well designed to deal with high speed impacts or rotational stresses (crashes that are not centred, and involve rotation of the head). They are not designed to provide adequate protection for a collision involving another moving vehicle, (e.g. a car)."

Here:

Thank you.

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 9:50AM]

Ah, comment system ate the link. Go to Wikipedia.org and search for Bicycle_helmet.

[Greg @ Jun 28th 2007 10:35AM]

So because helmets aren't 100% effective in every situation it's not always smart to wear one? When is it ever smarter to NOT wear a helmet?

[Bad Beaver @ Jun 28th 2007 10:43AM]

Greg, you can pretty much do what you want if you feel good about it. IMO, helmets for regular riders are mostly a solution in search of a problem.

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 11:46AM]

Anything that reduces impact is a good thing in my opinion. If you choose to not wear one - fine by me. I'll still be living after my next crash. Well, hopefully.

And the Wikipedia article you quoted? Bupkis. They claim a specific reduction in speed, but without knowing the mass of the system, there is NO merit to knowing the speed. What's the inertia of the moving system?

Also, that data would be pertinent to, say, a rider crashing into a wall at 30mph. Head first. Cycling ettiquite is for the rider to ride WITH traffic, therein reducing overall relative impact speed if a car were to hit the rider. Vertical falling speed of a downed rider is NOT 30mph. Consider this:

v2 = vo2 + 2as
v2 = 0m/s + 2*9.81m/s2 1.5m
v2 = 29.43m/s
v = 5.4m/s
5.4m/s = 17.7165f/s
17.7165f/s = 12mph

Free falling from 1.5 meters will yield a speed of 12mph. Of course, given the physics of a bicycle, this can vary (forces can counter this freefall, and forces can aid in it). However, given that the horizontal speed of a bicycle in a fall will simply result in a slide upon impact, the only impact worth noting is the vertical drop. Therefore, a bicycle helmet WILL SAVE YOU from a lot of trouble in most accidents. Of course, since the wikipedia article cites no masses or values of intertia with its "safe impact speeds", we can't really prove anything now, can we?

So, take it or leave it. A bicycle helmet will help to save your life by reducing impact forces no matter what the impact speed. Anything that helps is good in my book - oh, also I hope you learned that Wikipedia is not the end all be all source for the ages =)

[M.C. Cookie @ Jun 28th 2007 5:27PM]

I use to take care of people with head injuries and will say that it's tough to stay positive when one day you are doing your thing and then suddenly you have some kid teaching you to do your laundry. Also, it does not take that much. It's not just the severity or speed, but also just a matter of hitting 'just wrong', or what happens to be there when you hit. Do what you want, but if you think the jury is still out on helmets please spend 30 minutes looking at a few bike sites and get the facts.

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 8:32AM]

Same with airbags, right?

Life is unpredictable. If you don't protect yourself, you will kill yourself eventually. I have taken a spill on the road before (gravel in a turn, with traffic next to me - riding on gravel on a road bike doesn't work very well). A helmet saved me from a lot of trouble. Well worth the $80 I paid - although you can get very safe helmets for as low as $15. Yes, take a chance with your life, or pay $15. Hmmmm...

[Jason @ Jun 28th 2007 9:32AM]

Hell, I have taken a spill on gravel roads on a mtn bike, just depends on how fast you try to take the corner, lose ground material is lose ground material, regardless of the size and thickness of your tires (I run a 29" x 2.35" type on my Niner RIP9).

[James Wolf @ Jun 28th 2007 9:33AM]

It turns out in in a lot of states, it is illegal to bike with headphones on. New York State for example says no to headphones, but you can have a single earpiece (like a cell headset). I don't know if they actually enforce these laws, but its nice that the iHome provides what seems like a much safer way to listen to your iPod while biking.

[Marshall @ Jun 28th 2007 11:39AM]

It's illegal to wear earphones while on the road in Washington as well, though I have no idea if any bicyclists have been stopped for it.

[Tom @ Jun 28th 2007 11:49AM]

Marshall, I've been stopped for speeding on my bike (37 in a 20 zone), so I imagine a cop willing to do it would pull over a headphone-wearing rider. But, it was University Police who pulled me over, so I would imagine most departments wouldn't even bother with something so petty.

[Wun Chiou @ Jun 28th 2007 10:11AM]

Well, if you have this thing mounted on your bike, you're obviously a Jedi. So, just use the force to avoid collisions!

[Mike @ Jun 28th 2007 11:10AM]

Think this would work on a motorcycle ?

[nd @ Jun 28th 2007 12:20PM]

Only if you don't wear one of those clearly superfluous helmets.

/sarcasm

[zapot8 @ Jun 28th 2007 8:40PM]

METALLICA!
METALLICA!
METALLICA!
hehe, sorry

[Mike @ Jun 28th 2007 10:20PM]

THEY STOLE MY IDEA. For the past year or so I've had a pair of harmon/kardon speakers and 3 lantern batteries zip tied to my bike. I have 20W of power blasting music thru town on my bike!